The Meat Trust.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 13 July 1917, Page 3

The Meat Trust.

During a discussion in the House of Representatives on the ■ report of the Imperial Supplies Department, Mr Payne made a'plea for cheaper meat. With this Mr Pearce agreed. The farmer in New Zealand; he said, wae getting less for his meat than the farmer in any other part of tbe world. Tbe Government had power to release the meat from the freezing stores at the commandeered price, to be sold at a reasonable advance by the retailer, and he thought that very fair and reasonable. It waa impossible under war conditions to open meat shops all over the dominion, and it would not be fair to wipe out all the butchers in the country. He denied that the Meat Trust was now operating in New Zealand, and he thought they could, with the assistance of the Home Government, prevent it from doing so. He thDUght the Home' Government vrould help them, as the consumers at Home were going to suffer as much as the prjducers in New Zealand. He held that there was no risk of thiß trust getting control of the freezing works, as the farmers were so largely interested in them. There was a grave

risk, however, of it securing a hold on the refrigerated ships, and to deal with this the New Zealand Government required the assistance of the Home Government. The producers should take op shares in a shipping company to control the shipping required. Five or six millions of capital would be needed, but they were now standing a loss of six millions in extra freight and getting nothing for it He held that the producers should be compelled to contribute for shares, and that the Government should have an intere t in the company. He would compel the farmers to contribute by taking a levy of 5 per cent on the exports for shares in the , company. itwould produce £1,250,000 a year, and I it would bt much better to get shared for that sum than to pay it for nothing.

Mr Veitch pointed out that the proposal of the member for Patea would prove a very heavy burden on the consumers in New Zealand unless the Government stepped in to do something to protect the people here. He thoaght the Government might well commandeer the whole of the meat, and thus benefit the people of the dominion as well as others.